Brisket
For Jewish holidays, especially Passover, when there is a big crowd for dinner, I always make brisket. This recipe was carried down in my mother’s family, but updated a bit by me in my new cookbook “My Life in Recipes” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2024). The secrets to a good brisket are simple: Slowly braise it in ample liquid, and add lots of onions for flavor. The brisket can be eaten straight from the oven, as soon as it’s cooked, but is best prepared in advance to let the flavors blend together. Refrigerating overnight makes it easy to skim and discard the fat that accumulates on the surface of the gravy. You can strain the sauce if you like, but do keep the onions and carrots. Serve this with matzo farfel, egg noodles, potato latkes or kasha varnishkes.
- Preparation:
- Cooking:
- Total:
- Serves: 8 persons
Ingredients
- 5pounds beef brisket
- 2garlic cloves, peeled
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3medium yellow onions, cut into chunks
- 1(15-ounce) can diced or crushed tomatoes
- 2celery stalks with leaves, chopped
- 1fresh bay leaf
- 1fresh thyme sprig
- 1fresh rosemary sprig
- 2cups dry red wine
- 6to 8 carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally
- ¼cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
Instructions
Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.Step 2
In a 9-by-13-inch Pyrex baking dish, rub the brisket with the garlic (you can leave the garlic in the dish), then sprinkle it all over with 2 teaspoons salt and about 1 teaspoon pepper. Lay the brisket fat side up. Top this with even layers of the onions, tomatoes, celery, bay leaf, thyme and rosemary. Pour the red wine on top, then cover with aluminum foil and seal tightly.Step 3
Transfer to the oven and bake for about 3 hours, basting every 30 minutes or so with the pan juices.Step 4
Add the carrots and half the parsley, and bake, uncovered, for about 30 minutes more, or until the carrots are cooked and the beef is tender. To test for doneness: Stick a fork in the flat (thinner or leaner) end of the brisket. When there is a light pull on the fork as it is removed from the meat, it is fork-tender.Step 5
Bring the meat to room temperature in the sauce, then remove it to a cutting board and trim all visible fat from the brisket. Look for the grain — the muscle lines of the brisket — and, with a sharp knife, cut slices across the grain about 1/4-inch thick.Step 6
Return the sliced brisket to the baking dish with the sauce, nestling the meat into the liquid, and refrigerate overnight or freeze. When you’re ready to serve, reheat it, covered, in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes.Step 7
If the gravy needs reducing, put the meat on a serving platter, strain the liquid into a saucepan and reduce the gravy over medium heat until it has the desired consistency; season to taste. Pour some over the meat, and put the rest in a gravy boat. Cover the meat with the carrots (and onions, if desired) and the remaining parsley, and serve.